In the prior art embodiment illustrated, a generally triangular deck structure, indicated generally at 1, has a main intermediate deck 2 having upstanding rods at opposite sides thereof, one of these rods being indicated at 3, which connect the deck structure to movable mechanism (not shown) for obtaining up and down movement of the deck structure.
The intermediate deck 2 has a forward upstanding bracket 4 and a pair of upstanding brackets located at the rear corners thereof, one of them being indicated at 5, to support a generally triangular moving deck 6 for forward and rearward movement parallel to the intermediate deck 2 by means of links 7 and 8 pivoted to the brackets 4 and 5 and moving deck 6.
The intermediate deck 2 carries fixed setting shoes 10 which cooperate with movable setting shoes 11 which may be grooved at the lower end to receive the lower end of a fixed shoe 10. A pair of shoes 10 and 11 are associated with each other and ten pairs are arranged similarly to the arrangement of pins on an alley bed. The shoes 11 are mounted on the moving deck 6 to form with the fixed shoes 10 openings for receiving pins from a magazine (not shown) disposed above the deck structure and for subsequently setting pins on the alley bed. When the moving deck is in its forward position, the shoes 10 and 11 will be closely adjacent each other and when it is desired to receive pins therebetween, the moving deck 6 will be moved rearwardly to form an opening between the pairs of shoes 10 and 11 of a size to receive and hold a pin and a pin may be then positioned therebetween. When it is desired to set pins, the deck 1 is placed adjacent the alley and the shoes are opened further apart to release the pins.
Also carried on the underside of the moving deck 6 are a plurality of pressure pads arranged similarly to the spots on the alley bed which may be formed of resilient material, one of these pressure pads being designated at 12. These pads function to engage the tops of standing bowling pins A when the deck 1 is in its pin pickup position. When the setting shoes 10 and 11 move apart to receive a pin, the pressure pads 12 will be moved rearwardly and out of vertical alignment with the pin spots on the alley bed.
The intermediate deck 2 has a generally triangular scissors deck 30 suspended there beneath by rods 31 which is provided with ten openings 33 arranged similarly to the spot arrangement on an alley bed, as shown in FIG. 2.
A pair of scissor arms of what may be generally termed a scissors-type is associated with each of these openings 33. The corresponding arm in each pair is alike and the corresponding arms are designated at 34 and 35, respectively. The description and operation of these arms may be more clearly understood by reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 of the drawings. The detailed description of one pair of arms 34, 35 and actuating mechanism is believed sufficient since the actuating mechanism is also the same for substantially all pairs of arms. Each of the arms 34 and 35 has an elongated pin-engaging portion 34a, 35a receiving a piece of resilient material fastened thereto, indicated at 36 and 37, respectively, and each arm has a mounting portion 34b, 35b extending at an angle to the pin engaging portions 34a and 35a.
The mounting portion 34b of arm 34 is pivoted intermediate its ends to a fixed pin 38', defining an axis extending upwardly from and secured to the scissors deck, and the mounting portion 35b of arm 35 is pivoted at one of its ends to this pin 38'. One end of portion 34b of the arm 34 has a link 39 pivoted thereto at one of its ends by a pin 40, and the mounting portion 35b of arm 35 has one end of a link 41 pivoted thereto by a pin 42 a short distance from its end mounted on the fixed pin 38'. The links 39 and 41 are pivotally connected together at their other ends, by a pin 43. A drag link 44 disposed above toggle links 39 and 41 is pivotally connected at one end 44a to the pivot pin 43 which pivotally connects the links 39 and 41 and at its other end 44b to an operating arm 45 by a pin 46. The operating arm 45 is pivotally mounted on the scissors deck 30 by a pin 46 a secured to the scissors deck and has an arm 47 forming therewith a bell crank, the other end of the arm 47 being pivotally connected to an actuating rod 48 by a pin 49.
A pair of stops 50 and 51 upstanding from the scissors deck 30 are provided for limiting the opening movement of the scissor arms 34 and 35, respectively. The outer ends of the arms 34 and 35 may be provided with buttons 52 and 53 of low frictional properties to slidably support the outer ends of the arms on the scissors deck 30.
The scissor arms are normally urged to a pin pickup position wherein they extend generally parallel by a spring 55 which acts through a bell crank having arms 56 and 57 to shift a link 58 to cause movement of one of the bell crank arms 47, as shown in FIG. 2.
The series of bell crank arms 47 extending across the rear of the deck structure are interconnected by the actuating rod 48 which extends across the rear of the deck structure and actuates the scissor arms 34 and 35 for the 7, 8, 9 and 10 pins.
The scissor arms for the 1, 2, and 4 pins are operated by an actuating rod 60 which is connected to the inner end of the arm 45 associated with the pickup mechanism for the 7 pin and is pivotally connected at its forward end to an arm 61 pivotally mounted on the scissors deck 30. Similar actuating rods 62 and 63 are provided for actuating the pin pickup apparatus associated with the 3 and 5 pins and with the 6 pin. The forward ends of these rods are supported by arms 64 and 65 pivotally mounted on the scissor deck.
The movement of the scissor arms 34 and 35 under the urging of the spring 55 is controlled by a cable 66 which extends around a groove in a pulley 67 mounted on the intermediate deck frame 2 and upward to a cam follower diagrammatically designated by 121 in FIG. 2 which may move in response to highs and lows on a rotatable cam in the control mechanism. The lower end of the cable 66 is fastened around an arm 68 which is fixed for rotation with the arms 56 and 57 so that as cable 66 is paid out under cam control when the deck structure is in a pin pickup position, the spring 55 becomes operative to move the scissor arms 34 and 35 in each pair toward each other. As the cable is taken in, the spring is tensioned and the pairs of scissor arms 34 and 35 are moved away from each other.
The withdrawn position of the scissor arms 34 and 35 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The pin pickup position of the arms is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 where the arms have contacted pins in different off-spot positions.
In FIG. 4, the position of the arms illustrated is that where a pin which is on-spot would be picked up since the pin is only off-set in a direction which is in line with the pivot point 38 for the arms 34 and 35 and the on-spot position for a pin. In the position of FIG. 4, the arm 45 has caused movement of the drag link 44 to place the end 44b of the drag link over the pivot pin 38' for the pickup arms 34, 35 and move the links 39 and 41 into a straight-line position to make the toggle to scissor the arms to pin engaging position. The pin will be engaged at any point along the length of the scissor arms.
In FIG. 5, movement of the arm 45 has caused movement of the drag link 44 and because of the off-spot condition of the pin, the arm 35 has traveled only a short distance until it engages a pin which prevents further movement of the arm 35. Continued movement of the drag link will carry the link 39 to produce continued movement of the arm 34 as well as causing pivoting of the link 41 about its pivot 42 until the end 44b of the drag link is over the pivot pin 38 for the scissor arms and the arm 34 engages the pin and the toggle is made.
The drag link 44 is utilized to apply a force to the toggle links at their point of pivotal connection together. For this purpose the drag link may be considered a floating force applying member in that it need not occupy any particular position nor exert a force along any particular line in order to operate the mechanism. Thus it will be seen that in FIG. 4 the drag link 44 is in approximately the "seven o'clock" position while in FIG. 5 it is in a "five o'clock" position. The important feature is that a force applying member such as the drag link 44 be provided to make and break the toggle which is not constrained to movement or operation along any prescribed or predetermined path, in other words that it be "floating."
It will be seen that the entire assembly is centered about the rotational axis of pin 38' of the scissors arms and no force is exerted which can move the assembly from the position which it occupies. The pin will be held engaged by the pair of scissor arms until the deck has ascended to permit sweeping and the deck has again descended to place the pins again on the alley bed. The cable 66 will then be taken in to tension the spring 55 and reverse the movement of the drag links 44 to break the toggles and move the scissor arms 34 and 35 to their withdrawn position.
It will be seen from the foregoing that scissors-type pin pickup mechanism has been provided, all of which are simultaneously mechanically operated by a control mechanism at a remote source and without the movement in a vertical direction of pressure plates or other members which are contacted by pins as the deck descends to its pin pickup position. The foregoing description describes an existing prior art bowling alley assembly which forms no part of the present invention.
The present invention is directed to modifying an existing pin setting mechanism so that the scissor arms can be effectively deactivated so that it does not sufficiently clamp a bowling pin located therebetween during the resetting cycle thereby allowing the bowling pin to remain on the bowling surface and be swept away by the sweeper during its sweeping motion. By selective deactivation of any number of the ten scissor arms, any number of the ten bowling pins can be selectively chosen to remain on the bowling alley, after a resetting cycle, so that a bowler may practice knocking down any desired combination of pins.